Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!stjhmc!p12.f56.n114.z1.fidonet.org!Chris.Gehlker
From: Chris.Gehlker@p12.f56.n114.z1.fidonet.org (Chris Gehlker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: RE: Where does UNIX fit in a graphically-based computer world?
Message-ID: <26133.26E8B2D9@stjhmc.fidonet.org>
Date: 8 Sep 90 06:01:06 GMT
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In a message to All dated 09/05/90 at 23:35:11, Jason W. Anthony 
(anthonjw@clutx.clarkson.edu)
writes:
 
JWA> I recently unwillingly got invloved in a Mac vs IBM argument, and I left
JWA> with an interesting question in mind... The person I was discussing this
JWA> with said "the world is going UNIX" and the IBM was more UNIX like.  Now,
 
JWA> I feel the world is going toward a graphically-based approach to 
computing
JWA> (Mac, Sun, NeXT, Windows 3.0 and OS/2), so I didn't think much of the
JWA> argument.  But, I began to wonder how UNIX would fit into such a
JWA> world....

I don't think it would be a BAD THING if the world went to UNIX but I've been
hearing this for a log time now.  The world apprently has a mind of its own.

JWA> So, if the world is indeed going GUI, will UNIX fade away, or will
JWA> there try to be some kind of combination of the two?  Also, why
JWA> have we seen very little GUI in the mainframe world?  It seems
JWA> vector-based graphics and/or smarter terminals could make that
JWA> possible.  Or is GUI simply a personal computer thing?

I think almost all of the desktop systems have some kind of GUI on top of UNIX
 
and X-Windows is, if I understand it correctly, intended to do exactly what
you suggest, ie let the smart terminal handle the graphics to overcome the 
lack
of bandwidth between the mainframe/mini and the terminal.  This also applies
to all the things that run on top of X-Windows, such as Open Look and Motif.
 My 2 cent opinion is that the reason we don't see much progress in this area
is simply the dissonance between the expectations of UNIX users and the 
expectations
of customers for programs with GUIs.  UNIX is the domain of the one time 
program,
the kind the programmer builds himself to perform some experiment or calculate
 
some answer.  It's also the domain of the program that's constantly under 
development.
 Such programs don't need GUIs and its too much work to program one for them.

 

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